Rasmussen Reports

There’s more turnover at the highest levels of the Trump administration, but voters aren’t surprised: They continue to believe President Trump is less dependent on his Cabinet than his predecessors in the White House.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 95% of Likely U.S. Voters consider a president’s Cabinet choices important to the success of his administration, with 65% who say they are Very Important. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 16-17, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Now that Gallup has quit the field, Rasmussen Reports is the only nationally recognized public opinion firm that still tracks President Trump's job approval ratings on a daily basis. If your organization is interested in a weekly or longer sponsorship of Rasmussen Reports' Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, please send e-mail to beth@rasmussenreports.com.

Congress appears likely to refuse funding again for President Trump's border wall, but one-in-five voters are willing to dig into their own pockets to privately fund the barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 21% of Likely U.S. Voters say they would contribute money to a private fund set up to build the wall if Congress refuses to fund it. A sizable majority (69%) would not privately contribute, but 10% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on December 12-13, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Forty-one percent (41%) of Likely U.S. Voters think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey for the week ending December 13.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The national telephone survey of 2,500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports from December 9-13, 2018. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 2 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The Oxford English Dictionary named “toxic” as the word of the year for 2018 because of its increased usage in the context of the environment, politics and in connection with the #MeToo movement. Americans are torn on whether the word should have received the honor, but agree that politicians and the media have contributed to a toxic culture.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 43% of American Adults agree with the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary that “toxic” is the word of the year. Thirty-seven percent (37%) disagree, while a sizable 20% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 12-13, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Now that Gallup has quit the field, Rasmussen Reports is the only nationally recognized public opinion firm that still tracks President Trump's job approval ratings on a daily basis. If your organization is interested in a weekly or longer sponsorship of Rasmussen Reports' Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, please send e-mail to beth@rasmussenreports.com.

With the holiday season upon us, most Americans still consider their faith an important part of their life, even if they don’t attend services regularly.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 71% of American Adults say their religious faith is at least somewhat important in their daily life, including 47% who say it’s Very Important. Just 27% say their faith does not play an important role in their life, with 15% who say it is Not At All Important. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 10-11, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The 115th
Congress is winding to a close with Democrats positioning themselves for hyper-partisan challenges to President Trump’s agenda in their new role as the majority party in the House next year. But the final showdown next week will be over approval of a budget with or without a wall.

President Trump warned that a partial government shutdown is looming just in time for Christmas following a heated meeting with Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer earlier this week in which the two parties failed to come to an agreement over spending for a border wall. Voters are getting more enthusiastic about building the wall, but they’re still not willing to risk a shutdown over it.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters now say the United States should build a wall along the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigration, up from 43% in September and 37% in July of last year. Just as many (48%) still oppose the wall, but that’s been on the decline from 56% in July 2017. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on December 12-13, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Now that Gallup has quit the field, Rasmussen Reports is the only nationally recognized public opinion firm that still tracks President Trump's job approval ratings on a daily basis. If your organization is interested in a weekly or longer sponsorship of Rasmussen Reports' Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, please send e-mail to beth@rasmussenreports.com.

The survey of 1,500 American Adults was conducted on December 2-3, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 2.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Two weeks ago in this column, I asked what is to blame for the weakness of the heads of government here and in Western Europe, institutional failure, voter fecklessness, leaders' personal weaknesses or some combination of all three?

This week, let's look at one of those institutions: political parties. How have they contributed to current woes? How can they perform better?

This holiday season, Americans think a little more religion would go a long way.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 50% of American Adults think America would be a better place if most people attended religious services on a regular basis, down just slightly from 53% who said the same in 2015.

Just nine percent (9%) think more religious attendance would make the country a worse place, while 31% think it would have no impact on America. Another 11% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on December 10-11, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

A proposal has been made to extend Medicare benefits to Americans of all ages. Voters are on the fence about the idea, but they do believe it would increase health care costs.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a plan to extend Medicare benefits to all Americans, not just those ages 65 and older. Forty-four percent (44%) oppose such a proposal, while 14% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 10-11, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Now that Gallup has quit the field, Rasmussen Reports is the only nationally recognized public opinion firm that still tracks President Trump's job approval ratings on a daily basis. If your organization is interested in a weekly or longer sponsorship of Rasmussen Reports' Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, please send e-mail to beth@rasmussenreports.com.

President Ronald Reagan said in his first inaugural address in 1981 that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,” and voters still agree.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 56% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with Reagan’s statement that government is the problem, while 30% disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are not sure. Reagan’s name was not mentioned in the question. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 10-11, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

In the 2018 cycle, the big story was that the Democrats faced a historically difficult map of Senate races. They had to defend 26 of the 35 seats being contested, including Democratic incumbents in several dark red states. Ultimately, Democrats won 24 of the 35 races, nearly 70% of those on the ballot. But Republicans netted two seats overall, boosting their majority from 51 seats to 53 seats when the new Senate convenes next month.
Democrats will hold 47 seats, a total that includes independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.